“She
always pushes us to do our best art work and she is really great,” said
fifth-grader Lillie Gifford.

During his 40 years with Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools, Swider served as both an art teacher and as an arts
administrator. Arts supporters and educators established The Tony Swider Art
Education Scholarship Fund to promote artistic growth.

Hartman with Penny Freeland and Brad Oliver

On Thursday, Brad Oliver, the school system’s Director of Arts Education
& Summer Enrichment Programs, and Penny Freeland,
the school system’s lead teacher for visual arts, dropped by Lewisville to
recognize Hartman.

“She is an outstanding art teacher,” Oliver said. “She is also an extremely helpful
person – very positive.”

Hartman with Angie Choplin and Jannie Stewart

Principal
Angie Choplin said: “She cares about each child. She is always positive,
patient…Every child leaves this classroom feeling like an artist.”

When she
can, Choplin said, she enjoys dropping in on one of Hartman’s classes and
making art with the students.

“She is
exceptional,” said Jannie Stewart, the assistant principal at Lewisville. “She
truly cares for the children.”

Hartman has taught at Lewisville for 27 years and taught
at East Forsyth High School for 9 years before that.

The Tony Swider
scholarship is overseen by the Winston-Salem Foundation. Each year, the
foundation notifies the school system’s arts educator of the amount available. Each
scholarship is generally worth $3,000 to $5,000. Those wanting to receive the scholarship apply, and a
committee of arts professionals and educators recommend a recipient to the
foundation.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Laurie Schaefer, who is the chair of the English department at
Mount Tabor High School, is one of 25 teachers from around the world who have
been chosen to go to Poland later this month to participate in a four-day
workshop about the Holocaust.

Educators from 11 countries on four continents will attend the workshop
designed to deepen their understanding of the historical landscape of Poland
before, during and after the Holocaust and to increase their knowledge of such concentration
camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“I am
very excited and honored to be able to participate,” Schaefer said.

While
there, teachers will meet with Holocaust survivors. In May, one of those
survivors will come here.

“I will
be holding a one-day workshop for teachers at the end of May to teach about
what I learned,” Schaefer, “and I will also have a Holocaust survivor there
from Auschwitz to talk to the teachers.”

To be
considered for the honor, Schaefer said, “I had to make a short video detailing
why I wanted to participate and how it would benefit me, my students, and my
peers. Then, I had to answer five short essay questions and fill out the rest
of the online application. They said that they were going to take no more than
200 applications and they chose 15 American teachers from that pool of
applicants, as well as 10 other teachers from different countries around the
world.”

Auschwitz: The Past is Present is an education program being
held in conjunction with the observance of the 70th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27. The program is sponsored by the University
of Southern California Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and
Education and by Discovery Education. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and
the International Auschwitz Council are the organizers of the official
commemoration event.

“Survivors shared their stories because they understood how vital
it was that future generations never forget what happened at places like
Auschwitz,” said Kori Street, the USC Shoah Foundation Director of Education.
“By bringing teachers to a place where so many atrocities occurred is a way to
show survivors that we take seriously our responsibility of keeping their
voices strong forever.”

Friday, January 9, 2015

On Saturday Jan. 10, Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools will hold its annual Magnet Fair. In the Friday Jan. 9 issue of
the Winston-Salem Journal, reporter
Arika Herron writes about Wiley Magnet Middle School, one of the magnet schools
that will be represented at the fair.

Photographer Andrew Dye took the photos.
Here is an excerpt from Herron's story.

This time last year, Wiley
Magnet Middle School didn’t exist.

On the eve of
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ annual magnet school fair, it’s poised to
become one of the district’s most popular magnet programs.

Wiley Middle School – one of
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools oldest and most historic schools – was
struggling. The school had low test scores, high poverty and a plenty of open
seats and school officials knew something needed to change.

“For years, we were not a
consideration,” said Sean Gaillard, Wiley’s principal. “In a school system of
choice, we were the non-choice.”

For the most part,
middle-school assignment in the district works like this: students are placed
in a “residential zone” that includes three middle schools from which they may
choose. Students are guaranteed placement in one of those three schools, and
often are granted their first or second choice. Wiley is part of the Midwest
Zone with Jefferson Middle School and Paisley IB Magnet School.

Gaillard said that when
given those three choices, Wiley was often the last choice.

That is starting to change,
though. Wiley began piloting a new theme for the school’s sixth-graders two
years ago. It uses a curriculum, known as STEAM, which integrates science,
technology, engineering, art and math across subjects.

In November 2013, Wiley
appealed to the district’s Board of Education to become its 19th magnet school.

The board granted the
request, allowing Wiley to take its STEAM theme school-wide.

What the magnet also allowed
Wiley to do – other than change its name – was to open enrollment to students
across the county. Wiley accepts students from outside of its competitive
residential zone.

“I thought, we’d get maybe
10 kids,” Gaillard said.

Wiley accepted 80 magnet
students. Dozens more were put on a waiting list.

The effect was two-fold. Not
only did Wiley attract those out-of-zone students, its new theme also helped it
attract more students from inside its zone.

About Me

We're here to share good news about people associated with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, to answer questions and to let you share your thoughts about how to make the schools better. If you have something that you would like for others to know about or want to ask a question, please send an email to Kim Underwood